Postion Current
Head Coach James Franklin
DC Brent Pry
DL Sean Spencer
LB ???? (Pry?)
Corners Anthony Midget
Safeties [RUMORED] Lamar Morgan
Special Teams Doug Shearer
OC Ty Howle
QB Danny O'Brian
WR Fontell Mines
RB Norval McKenzie
OL Matt Moore
TE David Rocco
S&C Chuck Losey
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
Matt Colangelo??
I keep seeing this is an analyst, not the actual coach. Do you have anything else to confirm??
To alleviate confusion and get idea of full staff, can we add to the list of coaches with analysts such as Colangelo and Rocco senior (can't remember the dad's name, one of them is David)?
@vt2016 - if you think it"s a good add, can you add to the table?
CBS Sports is reporting Doug Shearer from UConn has been named Special Teams Coordinator.
Yeah, his Twitter profile confirms as much as well. Header and title listed.
24/7 Article about him. Blurb below:
His 2024 special teams units were among the most productive in the country. Placekicker Chris Freeman hit 20 of 26 field goals, including a pair from 53 yards, and converted all 49 extra‑point attempts while finishing as the team's leading scorer with 109 points. Freeman ranked 17th nationally in field goals per game, reflecting Shearer's ability to maximize consistency and range at the position.
Punter Conner Stutz averaged 43.58 yards per punt, good for 30th nationally, while return specialist Mel Brown emerged as one of the most explosive players in college football. Brown finished second nationally in kickoff return average at 29.1 yards per attempt, highlighted by a 96‑yard touchdown return.
I thinks that's exactly (I mean word for word) what was in the CBS Sports article. Seems like a good pick up.
24/7 is owned by CBS I think, so it would make sense if they just content shared.
Didn't know that. Thanks.
Seen Torrian rumored for corners. We'll see.
God PLEASE make this true
Hasn't he been rumored for a month off and on?
Torrian pls!
Make sure someone talks to his mom.
Make sure that someone isn't Galen Scott
Idk seems like he made that lady pretty happy
What is he doing now? Seems like the perfect "Michigan Man".
So if we cant pull Torrian who would we legitimately go for for the secondary?
Who's our secondary secondary?
I think Eddie Whitley at JMU is an absolute solid option!
Looks like he's headed to Cali as UCLA CB coach
Eddie Whitley is a great dude. Will miss having him here in the area. Great family
Welp
Third time is the charm
They gave him a title to stay.
Maybe it's for the best
That must be a helluva title, I'd jump at any chance to get out of Columbia, its a dump
When I last went there almost a decade and half ago, the sorority/frat houses had bars over their windows. It was so bizarre to me.
May also be a brief one as the South Carolina Gentry believe 2026 is put up or pack up for Shane.
PSU bowl game is today... I imagine that we know by Monday if Poindexter is indeed coming to VT.
Go look at their opt out list .... its got 4 starting offensive linemen and the starting RB as well as a couple other starters on defense. Hopefully Clemson pummels them
Especially after seeing these for sale....
That looks like it's probably a knock off site
It is but dont care. Still hope the Whiny Lions lose
I'm just going to say what my gut feels here.....
The inability to draw Gray from a USCe Staff that is firmly on the Hot Seat going into '26 is concerning. The overall process and makeup of the Staff is concerning.
Offensively, we have a green O.C. and QB coach and I don't feel like we upgraded at RB coach. Moore I understand (though would have been more happy with Trautwein) and Mines is a good Recruiter. We let our most valueable Coach (IMHO) go to Hartline at USF.
Defensively we have Pry (who I will remain HIGHLY skeptical of until I see at least a half-year of competent Defensive play), Spencer, and a whole lot of Question marks.
We know of at least 2 position coaches where we clearly didn't get our primary choices (OC and now CB)...the money (supposedly) shouldn't be a limiting factor anymore.
Maybe this all works out and this Staff ends up being lights-out, but I think alot of ourselves are being disingenuous if we don't admit we were expecting a bit more.
I really like Brooks but he went to a G5 school now he went to one that is investing in football, but still G5, I assume there is a reason no P4 picked him up, he also didn't stay in the region he has recruited for years.
And I'll say what my gut feels
A lot of people on TKP and within our fanbase are so accustomed to VT failing that they are looking for any reason to cast doubt and downplay any chance that we might actually be on the right path.
If you had re-hash Brent Pry and Ty Howle on your VT Coordinators Bingo Card, then more power to you. Questioning either of those hires is more than justifiable. After years of bumbling, stumbling and penny-pinching their way towards the ACC Basement, every VT fan deserves to look at this Program with a critical eye.
Spending more money doesn't instantly solve problems if you are spending it badly. VT wants me to get excited about this Program and invest both time and money into it. Before I commit to that, I need to see some demonstrable results.
After 10 years of ineptitude of nearly every form, one big-name hire and throwing money into the program isn't enough to turn me into a relentlessly optimistic Fan-Boy.
When you can't flip a former player and Staffer who is 50/50 to be employed 365 days from now from a Program on the rocks, its not confidence-inspiring, no matter how many ways you can come up with to excuse it.
I mean Gray has been on staff at SCAR for going on 6 years now. Position coaches aren't usually locked in that long term either, so he's really potentially even looking at a 1 year deal versus a 1 year deal. He just got the Co-DC title in Columbia, which is a promotion and can help his future coaching prospects too.
Not having to uproot your family for a potential one year gig in Blacksburg, when you are getting a Co-DC title at another place that might be a one year gig seems like not the worst choice, regardless if you played at VT or not.
I'm relatively sure Gray's kids are well beyond the "uprooting" stage---one of his daughters was a teenager when he was on Beamer's Staff here 10+ years ago.
While no one publicly knows what contract terms VT was prepared to offer Gray, its pretty clear that SC isn't a stable job at this point (when the Newspaper has to run an article confirming your Head Coach is coming back, you have very little job security).
The overarching concern I have here is that VT is not finding it easy to find well-regarded coaches who want to work under Pry. If Poindexter doesn't jump on-board, its very unclear who is going to coach the Secondary--and that is a huge need after years of poor secondary play under Pry v1.0.
I'm choosing to view the hires as us poaching position coaches from Texas A&M and GT. Hiring an OC from PSU. I share skepticism of the Pry re-tread but he was successful as a DC at PSU. Skepticism of the PSU OC having not called plays before is fair. I don't know that losing out on Torrian Gray is that big of a downer since he got promoted to co-DC which we presumably were not willing to offer. Compared to the hires of the last decade that all seems incredible and points to us trending in the right direction
I believe his youngest was an adult when he left VT
But Grey is already there. It's not like he's choosing to enter an unstable job instead of VT - he's choosing not to relocate right now.
Also, Torrian was a DB, put on an island and having to shut down receivers, he has to have confidence in himself so he might believe that he and Shane can turn this around. He's known Shane for about 30 years too.
Add the context. Gray was going to leave for VT until he was promoted to co-DC.
I'm not going to say this is the 'ideal' or 'perfect' staff, but I'm not as worried as you are
I don't think this staff is 'lights-out', but I also think it's the best staff we've assembled in the post-Foster-era. I was hoping for more experience on the offensive side the of ball. I'm pleased with the defense so far.
I think the notion that money wouldn't be a limiting factor was misguided. Again - the staff pay was top 4 by 2024 standards. We're entering the 2026 season. The arms race/inflation/whatever you want to call it is very real.
I wouldn't call brooks our 'most valuable coach' - but otherwise I agree.
I am less skeptical of Pry as a DC than you are. I think his resume speaks for itself.
Also, if Poindexter joins as the new safety coach, and we get someone decent at CBs (ie; Ed Whitley), then all of a sudden this defensive staff looks a bit more well rounded.
I disagree. He got a raise and title bump. IF poindexter is joining the team as co-DC/pass game coordinator, then we couldn't really give Torrian co-DC title as well. Also, Torrian is not in the same position as Phil Montgomery was last year, for example. If the SCar wipes the staff clean, Torrian will have no problem getting a job at P2 program.
Having to overpay to get coaches doesn't make that a good thing, BTW. It's like Pittsburgh or
OaklandSacramento in MLB WRT free agents.I think it's irrelevant if you're overpaying if you get your guy.
Yeah but what if you're not getting your guy(s)?
That's just proof of the arms race imo.
Who do you think the primary choice at OC was?
I believe they said it was that ecu coach who went to ole miss
John Baker, Broyles Award finalist in 2024. He is just returning to Ole Miss as he was their co-OC in 22-23 and was in other positions there the two seasons before that. Started coaching at North Texas where he helped shape three Top 20 offenses and then went to USC to be an offensive analyst before Ole Miss. Only funny thing in his Ole Miss bio, it doesn't mention ECU at all.
Rahne?
For better or worse we got our first choices at OC and DC. We didn't get our first choices at CB (Gray) and OL (Traut).
Gray leveraged the VT offer into a better deal at USC-E and will coach in the SEC with a close friend...tho we will likely land a better recruiter at CB than Torrian. Traut went back to his alma mater and will continue to try to move on to the NFL. Moore is proven recruiter and a good run blocking coach. Second choices are better than 4th or 5th.
Howle doesn't have a ton of play calling experience but it is also not zero (and he has been a co-OC twice). Again, time will tell if he was the best choice. But he will run the O the HC wants to see, he knows what the TE's and OL's do in a TE-centric run heavy offense, and at this point he is a better recruiter than JDB.
O'Brien has been a QB coach for 2 years. More importantly, he's familiar with the player likely to be QB1 for us next year (Pribula or Grunkemeyer) as well as the O we will be running.
McKenzie is considered by most to be the more desirable choice over Brooks...time will tell.
I share your concerns about Pry; we will know soon enough if he still has what it takes at DC.
Spencer is a huge get; I think saving $ on Pry enabled this one to happen.
I don't think Franklin has any question marks about his choices; certainly not a "whole lot" of them. If we get LaMar Morgan, Dex, and Lustig to round out the main staff positions; I'll be very happy. Would certainly be the best recruiting staff we've ever had by quite a margin...Spencer, Moore and Howle recruiting the trenches for VT is a BIG deal.
Los of great points here, especially the comments on the "misses".
To be honest, it feels like if TG didn't have VT ties, we might not have gone after him ( and we would probably care a lot less that we missed.)
At the same time he has been here and done that, just because a place is home doesn't mean you want to live there. I dont want to move back to where I grew up. But again, columbia? Eww
At the same time, Torrian and Shane go a long ways back and I can't blame him at all for not bailing on his close personal friend when it looks like that friend's career is in jeopardy, regardless of where that job is.
Not sure that is true. Look at Grey's track record of recruiting but also placing defensive backs in the NFL. He is ranked 35th in recruiting. His DBs have had 14 or more interceptions in four of his five seasons as coach at South Carolina. He has had four All Americans and put five into the draft.
At Florida he also put five in the league in two seasons.
For the Hokies he did this:
If he had done that anywhere else he would likely still be someone Franklin is looking at.
I think it was more meant as "if he didnt have so much vt history he wouldnt be viewed as attainable enough to try"
Exactly.
Gray hasn't set the world on fire as a Recruiter but he has shown consistent ability to be a high-level developer.
That's why he was a target, not because of VT nostalgia.
It is what it is, maybe his ties to Shane were too strong to break but he was a guy we wanted in an tenuous job and we couldn't close-- that's not ideal no matter how you want to rationalize it.
If we hire somebody who has an equal or or better resume, then no issues are had. If we sign another guy with a paper-thin resume, then I think even the most ardent fans are going to have trouble searching for justifications.
I agree, JMFF would field a much better team if he let the fans pick his staff/ make important decisions.
Thank you! Finally someone gets it
Also, we need the new med students to genetically generate a full grown love child between Cignetti and Saban (Cigban?) and get ahead of this train wreck now. Curt and Nick will come on as pappy advisors as they will recognize the power and logic of our fan base.
I'm a realist, don't fire Franklin until Cigban drops.
Nurt Cigban, the next Chad Powers, season 2.
I can appreciate this sentiment, however I do feel differently. And for me it's all about perspective.
We are one of the worst P4 teams in the country, maybe the worst. for a decade now, VT football has been in the basement. I don't think everyone understands, or appreciates, the size of the rebuild at hand. It's a complete rebuild. It is made easier by the portal, but also more challenging because it means more evaluation; a different kind of development (more so related to team cohesion); and a myriad of other things.
Franklin sticking with guys he knows makes his job exponentially easier than it otherwise might be. And remember, he's had a ton of success with this group. In his career as a P4 head coach, he averages 9 wins per season. VT can't even beat G5 schools consistently right now so I'm going to trust the man who knows how to build programs and win football games.
Sadly only bottom third. Not great but 17 P4 teams with lower win % than the Hokies from 2015-2024. This list does not have 2025 season so drops us farther down but really the list shows how many teams have been mediocre for a decade. 26 teams with sub-.500 records from 2015-2024 in P4.
P4 College Football Records by School
(Last Decade, 2015-2024 Seasons)
School Record (W-L) Win %
Alabama 126-14 90.0%
Ohio State 116-15 88.5%
Clemson 121-18 87.1%
Georgia 109-26 80.7%
Oklahoma 103-28 78.6%
Notre Dame 94-34 73.4%
Wisconsin 92-36 71.9%
LSU 90-38 70.3%
Oregon 89-38 70.1%
Michigan 87-38 69.6%
Penn State 85-41 67.5%
Iowa 86-41 67.7%
Michigan State 72-54 57.1%
Utah 65-51 56.0%
Texas A&M 68-55 55.3%
Mississippi State 69-58 54.3%
Tennessee 67-57 54.0%
Auburn 66-60 52.4%
Florida 65-58 52.8%
Kentucky 65-60 52.0%
Baylor 64-60 51.6%
Oklahoma State 63-60 51.2%
Miami (FL) 63-61 50.8%
USC 62-60 50.8%
TCU 63-62 50.4%
Iowa State 62-63 49.6%
Missouri 61-64 48.8%
Kansas State 60-64 48.4%
Arizona State 59-64. 48.0%
West Virginia 58-65. 47.2%
NC State 58-65. 47.2%
Arkansas 57-67. 45.9%
Louisville 56-68 45.2%
Pittsburgh 56-68 45.2%
Maryland. 53-65. 45.0%
Virginia Tech 55-69 44.4%
California 54-69 43.8%
Nebraska. 52-67 43.7%
South Carolina 54-71 43.2%
North Carolina 53-70 43.1%
Stanford 52-71 42.3%
Indiana. 49-70. 41.2%
Syracuse 51-73 41.1%
Colorado. 51-73 41.1%
Purdue 48-71 40.3%
Georgia Tech 49-74 39.8%
Wake Forest 49-75 39.5%
Arizona 46-72 38.9%
Illinois 46-72 38.9%
Northwestern. 47-76 38.2%
Virginia 45-79 36.3%
Vanderbilt. 40-80 33.3%
Rutgers 40-80 33.3%
Kansas 31-89 25.9%
Where is uva on this list??
Must have skipped them on my pastes. Updated above.
I think Ai also removed the Covid Year from the totals above so that would change the results. Not going to dig into each team to confirm
In my opinion, the Covid year should be removed from any sort of data, for coaches and teams. Tons of players opted out, many had to follow protocols that kept them out for a couple weeks at a time, some conferences started their games later in the season, some games had to be cancelled due to too few players, etc. Total shit show that shouldn't be reflected anywhere. That whole season should just be an asterisk in the history books.
This surprised me, but I guess it shouldn't have.
It has been a baaaaaad decade for Virginia Tech football.
Well, looking at that list, three things jump out:
1. After Clemson, the next ACC team is Miami at 50% win percentage over that time period
2. VT is 6th in the ACC, less than 1% from 4th
3. Only 8 more wins over 10 years moves us to 2nd. I think we can all find one game per year we should have won, but didn't
I think a better statement is that it's been a bad decade for the ACC.
You're focusing too much on how bad the ACC is. Take a look at Texas A&M down to Okie State. A&M is 55% and goes down. There's a few fairly big name SEC teams in there that aren't averaging more than 6 wins a season over that time period. Yeah, the ACC hasn't been lighting it up, but not many have over that timeframe. 70% wins over a 12 game season is 8.4 wins. That means that almost all of these schools have been averaging less than 9 wins a season (75% wins).
If anything, this data seems to show that being good, and sustaining over a long time is not an easy thing to do, regardless of team or conference. Some teams luck into having a Nick Saban, but there aren't many that do - most of the rest are chasing it, but this underlines how difficult it is for ADs to make a coaching hire that fans would be happy with.
we have lost to a lot of the teams "below" us on that list in the last couplele years. I'd actually assume we lose to most of them before franklin
I would like to know what VTs winning percentage was for the decade covering 2000-2010 and where VT ranked, I would think it would have been in the top ten.
Considering 80% of 12 games a season is 9.6 wins, our 10 win streak would have put us in the top 5.
Hokies were 10th overall from 2000-2009 and #1 in the ACC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_I_FBS_football_win%E2%80%93l...
Texas and Oklahoma are 2/3 but that was in Big12 when most of the other teams were dreadful.
USCw was PAC 12 before Oregon became dominant.
Honestly the one that's the most surprising was BC because Fuck Matt Ryan. They were 16th.
Duke down at the very bottom at 19-97 during this stretch.
I guess we just have to let the man cook and see what happens...
It's all coming together as it should. Hopefully this week!
How would y'all feel about Anthony Midget as CB coach
Meh, if he wasn't a Hokie, he probably doesn't even come up on anybody's radar. Not sure how his secondaries performed but his current stop is a demotion from his previous positions at the NFL level. Also, his last 12 years have been in the NFL, so I think he falls short as far as recruiting goes.
"falls short"... I see what you did there....
His resume is fine. I could find away to bitch about it, but I won't.
I imagine it's an upgrade over cheetah.
Midget's resume is good enough for me. He's been a DB coach or a DC since '08, with a year at psu before coaching at 3 NFL teams. I feel like that's an upgrade regardless of whether or not he played here.
Mike Moyseenko has been named Asst QB coach. Was Hokies Asst TE coach prior.
The VT TE/QB jokes write themselves.
Apparently, they don't. They require coaching.
This continuum continues....
Have any coaches been formally announced by Franklin or the program? Or it's all been through the individual coaches confirming?
Does a
tittertwitter announcement count as 'formal'?SMH
Lol at this typo
I think we have a new exclusive TKP term to add to such gems as Pussy Touchdowns, Dork Magic, etc.
So say we all, hail titter announcements!
I think that is generally considered "informal".
When does it cross over into a "business casual" announcement? Can the announcements wear jeans on Fridays?
I think a shirt is a minimal requirement.
not on titter 🤷♂️
Good point about the titter
Titter, I hardly know her.
Shearer is a good hire
Is it weird we haven't heard anything about Poindexter now that PSU's bowl game is over?
Secondary Coach (Nickels) is Vic Hall. A Hoo
Formerly Safeties coach at Rutgers
James Franklin has been busy building out his inaugural coaching staff at Virginia Tech and on Tuesday night, he added another key piece by hiring Vic Hall as the Hokies' new nickels coach. Hall arrives in Blacksburg from Rutgers where he coached the safety position.
Hall, a Gretna, Va. native and former Virginia standout, spent the 2024 season as a defensive analyst at Penn State, working directly with the Nittany Lions' cornerbacks during a run that included a Big Ten Championship Game appearance and two College Football Playoff wins before coaching the safeties at Rutgers for the 2025 season.
Before his time in Happy Valley, Hall spent three seasons at Ball State, including a 2023 promotion to passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach. His unit surged late that season, allowing just 15.2 points per game over the final six contests. As the Cardinals' cornerbacks coach in 2021 and 2022, Hall helped produce 22 interceptions, the second‑most in the MAC over that span, and contributed to a Camellia Bowl berth.
My favorite tidbit about Vic Hall is that both VT and UVA were recruiting him hard. Hall was a standout DB and QB and VT wanted him as a DB. But hall wanted to play qb and VT said no. UVA said yes in some variation (likely a 'we'll give you a tryout at qb on day 1 of training camp') and then they moved him to DB anyways.
Then his senior year, with their offense struggling, they installed a wildcat package and put him at the QB spot for it.
I remember this. This is why the name rang a bell, but I couldn't place why.
Rutgers people saying their safeties got worse with him. Not a ringing endorsement for this hire. Interesting its just Nickels and not CBs (or safeties). So maybe it won't be too bad
I honestly looked up the amount of coaches allowed the other day thinking we only had room for one DB coach and now we may have 2 or 3. Kind of crazy that on field is unlimited now, but you can only have 10 recruiting.
Interesting playing career Vic Hall Wiki
Shit, I remember going to watch Vic Hall lead Gretna a to a state title in high school and now he's one of our coaches?
Ooof, that one makes me feel old
Let. Him. Cook. gif
I love this gif. I plan on using it often.
Thanks for the assist! Leg!
Edit: The dude in it is committed!
Let the man cook!
Wasn't Vic hall the same Vic hall we were worried about scoring on on us in 2008 when they were ranked? Part of me is worried about all of the whooos on the coaching staff. Sabotage?! lol silly conspiracy brain. 🧠
yes. and he was the only hoo to score on us
Franklin in an in game interview on ACCN during uva game says he has all but one position, safeteis/co-dc any speculation who that last spot is?
I think Midget is the rumor, but I think Poindexter is not hired yet either
If he said co-dc, I wouldn't think it would be Midget. Poindexter seems like it would make the most sense.
I think Poindexter is expected to be Safeties/Co DC and in Franklin's mind the Midget hire has already occurred
Good call out. I didn't read far enough to see it said cornerbacks and not secondary
A question on Poindexter, was he one of the UVA guys earlier in the process some of us fans said would 'never come to VT'?
I feel like he is really wanting to hold out for the uva head coaching job. But I don't think he is going to get it anytime soon
That's correct. Who knows how much truth is there, but people have said he wouldn't want to be in Bburg previously
He sounds like a planted mole. Im suspicious....
Three Hoos on the staff is just too many, simple as that IMO. I can talk myself into one, two is weird, three is just too much.
I don't care if it's all Hoos and Cousin lovers coaching the team as long as we win football games for VT
Im all for letting them see the incorrect choices they made in their younger lives and realizing the error in their ways.
Sounds like he's in play for Loserville's DC job. I'd imagine he'd jump at that instead of coming here if offered.
Anthony midget coming home?
Db coach
Connections to the Pros can't be a bad thing to add more of to the staff. Bring it!
Looks like Poindexter is going to Tennessee
Okay, so who's up next? Anybody know who's a potential pickup that's a safeties coach with co-dc potential?
LaMar Morgan from Michigan is a possibility. Got his start under Franklin as a GA, had the safeties coach / Co DC role at Michigan the last two seasons
Seeing this being confirmed on Titter. Not sure if I trust the source though. Coming from PaulCollins247. No checkmark and damn that's a punchable grin.
That guy is not affiliated with 247, and I'm pretty sure is a fake account.
Only 2 years on Michigan, so missed the Harbaugh years, so maybe not too contaminated with Michigan stench.
Because Harbaugh's successor was such a fine outstanding citizen....
That's why the "maybe not too contaminated".
Smart move on his part. Expands his coaching network, will get different perspectives, and safeties are a key position group in Knowles's scheme.
Not sure where that leaves VT though.
Hokies adding Warren Ruggiero from Iowa as an offensive analyst. Previously the OC at Wake Forest, he is the inventor of the slow mesh.
This might give us insight on the new offensive scheme. Seems to be well respected in football circles
Just give me an offense that's fun to watch please 🙏
Don't know how many years running I've said this. Must be about 10 now...ahh one of these years it'll happen right?
I've been a VT fan since 2008. I've seen 2.5 years of fun offense (2016, half of 2019, half of 2023, half of 2024).
The struggle is so painfully real
I had no idea what slow mesh was. That was a really interesting Google deep dive
It was so frustrating to watch when Wake was running it effectively
Listening to the TSL pod, Chris Coleman brought up the point that Franklin needed someone with experience recruiting the south (Carolinas, ATL, etc) and that's a reason why Brooks was replaced with McKenzie - Everyone else on the staff so far had mostly mid-atlantic/VA ties.
I'm curious to see if the remaining secondary coach is someone with more experience recruiting/ties to the southeast.
Warren Ruggiero
Longest Tenure: Offensive Coordinator at Wake Forest (2014–2024).
Ruggiero gained national fame for developing a unique offensive system at Wake Forest. In this scheme, the quarterback holds the ball in the stomach of the running back for an unusually long time (the "slow mesh"). This forces defenders to commit to the run or the pass, allowing the quarterback to make a late decision based on the defense's movement.
Key Career Achievements
- Record-Breaker: At Wake Forest, his offenses set nearly 400 school records. In 2021, the team averaged 41.0 points per game, one of the highest marks in ACC history.
- Broyles Award Finalist: In 2021, he was a finalist for the Broyles Award, which recognizes the top assistant coach in college football.
- Quarterback Developer: He has a reputation for "QB whispering," having coached notable players like Sam Hartman, John Wolford, and Jamie Newman (Wake Forest), as well as Josh Freeman (Kansas State).
Coaching History Years School Role
- 2026–Present Virginia Tech Senior Offensive Analyst
- 2025 Iowa Senior Football Analyst
- 2014–2024 Wake Forest Offensive Coordinator / QBs
- 2009–2013 Bowling Green Offensive Coordinator / QBs
- 2008 Kansas State Quarterbacks Coach
- 2006–2007 Elon Offensive Coordinator / QBs
- 1997–1998 Glenville State Head Coach
Derrick Tangelo added as Assistant Defensive Line coach/Defensive Analyst.
Played D Line for Atlanta Falcons and transferred to play at Penn St under Franklin from Duke
Is the additional coach going to teach our line to pass protect???
Looks like it's Ryan Alexander. A 2027 target mentioned him on his titter offer announcement. He was an analyst at LSU this year but was previously assistant o line coach under Moore at wvu.
Anyone know what Dae'lun Darien's role is with the Hokies now? He was linebackers coach at VMI and is a Penn State grad but has changed his Titter profile to be all Hokies now but the top of the profile doesn't have a title in it.
https://x.com/DaelunDarien7
So I know we still have one defensive coach to hire is it definitely Morgan or is that just tea leaves?
At this point I dont see how its Morgan...otherwise why would he still be there?
I count 12 assistants, DC, DL/LB, Nickels, Corners, S?, ST, OC, QB, RB, WR, TE, OL. Do we know who isn't in an office campus recruiting position?
I assume since Howie will coach TEs too that Rocco won't recruit, but im not sure who else.
Riddle me this:
D1 FBS is allowed 1+10 to recruit
D1 FCS is allowed 1+12 to recruit
Seems backwards especially with FBS coaches recruiting nationwide in some cases
Doesn't seem that backwards to me knowing that a lot of fbs teams have people dedicated to scouting recruits, coaching each position group, and prepping for games.
Yes but FCS schools are more likely to recruit a specific footprint that is relatively close to campus so requires shorter trips.
FBS coaches that are allowed to recruit off campus are forced to go on longer trips if they are recruiting nationwide so seems like having fewer to do it would be a bigger problem. The on campus stuff I agree that FBS has the major advantage with additional coaching and staff. Also seems odd to have them be a different number at all.
From Kolby's Corner
Lamar Morgan will likely not be Safeties coach
How about this guy for Safeties Coach? What he lacks in experience he would make up in street cred.
How I imagine him coaching:
lesson 1: knock a motherfucker out
end lesson. go play.
How many coaches are bigger than all of their players?
Tyler Bowen
So apparently the Special Teams Analyst that followed Franklin from PSU, Matt Colangelo, is going back to PSU.
Seems like psu gave him a promotion
Smith giving Franklin the bird. Not wise imo
What, you think JMFF needs *more* motivation on the recruiting trail against PSU? 🤣
Don't hate the player, hate the game, and by game I mean Smith.
I'm sure Franklin got the message, loud and clear.
Because he needed even more motivation? Get Penn State on the schedule!
Promotion from analyst to asst special teams coordinator
https://www.on3.com/teams/penn-state-nittany-lions/news/after-brief-depa...
Special Teams Ass.?
Here's to hoping this Special Teams are ass.
I know nothing about Coach Perry, but judging a book by its cover, I'd say it looks like a good read.
Pretty light on overall experience but not a bad resume with the NFL and SEC teams. I'm curious is he's getting the CO-DC, tag or is anyone?
Not warm fuzzies based on how Arkansas played this year, but that's just an initial reaction. We'll have to do more research if this is finalized
Arkansas was 33rd in pass defense but had some inconsistencies they got beat by some pretty good teams. But it was one season and thats tough to have consistency in one season. He did well for the Falclon as he has two DB have career years.
Agreed – one season under a lame duck coach; he barely gets to recruit his own guys, barely has time to develop the guys he's given... Just had to work with what he had.
DB coach Nick Perry